French prosecutors are investigating rape allegations against renowned Islamic scholar and Oxford professor Tariq Ramadan, according to media reports on Monday.

Two women accused Ramadan of raping them, the BBC reported. One woman, Henda Ayari, told a French TV station that the Islamic scholar had assaulted her in a hotel in Paris in 2012, claiming he "literally pounced" on her "like a wild animal," according to the BBC.

Ayari said she had visited Ramadan in his hotel room to ask him about Islam when the alleged rape happened.

"He kissed me really hard ... then for a few seconds he choked me, I really thought I was going to die," she said.

The second woman told a similar story, alleging that she was raped by Ramadan in a hotel in Lyon in 2009.

Ramadan denied the allegations in a post on Facebook, calling them "a campaign of lies" as well as "a campaign of slander clearly orchestrated by my long-time adversaries." He added that his lawyer was suing the women for "slander."

Swiss national Ramadan is considered an influential figure among Muslim scholars, but also a controversial one. He is the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, who founded the Muslim Brotherhood.

The allegations come in the wake of the global #MeToo movement, in which women have been speaking out about being sexually harassed or assaulted following accusations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.